Despite the importance of menstruation and the menstrual cycle to health, human rights, and sociocultural and economic wellbeing, the study of menstrual health suffers from a lack of funding, and research remains fractured across many disciplines. We sought to systematically review validated approaches to measure four aspects of changes to the menstrual cycle-bleeding, blood, pain, and perceptions-caused by any source and used within any field. We then evaluated the measure quality and utility for clinical trials of the identified instruments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We describe how High Impact Practices (HIPs) in family planning (FP) were adapted across Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe to maintain access to services in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Methods: Using a qualitative data collection tool structured around 3 HIP categories (service delivery, demand creation, and enabling environment), adaptations in FP programs during the pandemic were documented. We describe adaptations made to 3 specific HIPs: mobile outreach, community health workers, and digital health for social and behavior change.
Background: Immediate postpartum family planning (IPPFP) helps prevent unintended and closely spaced pregnancies. Despite Ethiopia's rising facility-based delivery rate and supportive IPPFP policies, the prevalence of postpartum contraceptive use remains low, with little known about disparities in access to IPPFP counseling. We sought to understand if women's receipt of IPPFP counseling varied by individual and facility characteristics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To generate regional, residential, and nationally representative estimates of knowledge of abortion legality and availability among women of reproductive age in Ethiopia, and examine how knowledge varies across regions and by urban/rural residence.
Study Design: Our study draws on data from a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey implemented in 2019 in each of Ethiopia's regional and administrative states, yielding a sample of 8,837 women aged 15 to 49. We compare weighted estimates and regional distributions of 3 outcomes: (1) general awareness and (2) correct knowledge of the abortion law, and (3) knowledge of facility-based abortion service availability.
Objectives: To generate regional, residential, and nationally representative estimates of knowledge of abortion legality and availability among women of reproductive age in Ethiopia, and examine how knowledge varies across regions and by urban/rural residence.
Study Design: Our study draws on data from a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey implemented in 2019 in each of Ethiopia's regional and administrative states, yielding a sample of 8,837 women aged 15-49. We compare weighted estimates and regional distributions of three outcomes: 1) general awareness and 2) correct knowledge of the abortion law, and 3) knowledge of facility-based abortion service availability.
Sex Reprod Health Matters
December 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially strained health systems across the globe. In particular, documented disruptions to voluntary family planning and reproductive health care due to competing health priorities, service disruptions, stockouts, and lockdowns are significantly impacting reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health. As governments and family planning programmes grapple with how best to respond to the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic on family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), the implementation and adaptation of evidence-based practices is crucial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMore than 7.3 million older adults in the United States have difficulty leaving their homes or are completely homebound, yet little data exist on the experiences of homebound older adults and their caregivers. We conducted 30 semi-structured qualitative interviews with homebound older adults and caregivers recruited through home-based medical care practices in Baltimore and San Francisco.
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